The present invention relates to an apparatus for advancing a slide mount to an insertion station of a slide mounting apparatus for receiving a film transparency.
Photographic film transparencies are generally severed from a photographic film web and inserted into a slide mount to prepare a photographic slide for use with a slide projector or other visualizing means. A variety of different types of slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus have been developed. One particular type of slide mount is available from the assignee of the present invention, Pakon, Inc.
Slide mounts are generally defined by upper and lower frame sections connected along an outer border to define a pocket therebetween. An insertion opening is included to open the pocket defined between the upper and lower frame sections of the slide mount to insert the film transparency. The film transparency is advanced through the pocket of the slide mount to position the developed image of the film transparency within an aperture of the slide mount to prepare the photographic slide.
Automatic and semi-automatic slide mounters are designed to continuously mount a plurality of film transparencies into slide mounts of the type described. Several U.S. Patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,391,082 (Diesch), 4,331,260 (Euteneuer et al.), 4,516,368 (Willenbring)) disclose slide mounters of the general type contemplated. The slide mounts are stored for operation in a slide magazine. As needed, a slide mount is ejected from the slide magazine and advanced to an insertion station where the film transparency is inserted into the pocket of the slide mount. More specifically, the slide mount is ejected from the slide magazine through a slide mount opening to a slide track which is aligned with the insertion station of the apparatus. Slide mounts are continually fed from the slide magazine through the slide mount opening to the slide track and advanced towards the insertion station to produce a plurality of photographic slides.
Typically, a slide ejector contacts a slide mount to initiate the movement thereof through the slide mount opening of the slide magazine to the slide track. The slide magazine is configured to release a single slide mount at a time to the slide track. It is important that only a single slide mount be ejected at a time for the apparatus to continue operation. However, on occasion the slide ejector contacts more than one slide mount and attempts to force more than one slide mount through the slide mount opening designed for a single slide mount. The force of the slide ejector is sufficient, at times, to cause several slide mounts to become wedged within the slide mount opening. This causes the apparatus to jam, and the slide mount opening must be cleared of the slide mounts before operation of the apparatus can continue.
Thus, there has been a continuing need to develop a slide mounter which reliably advances only a single slide mount to the insertion station for each operation cycle. More particularly, there has been a continuing need to develop an apparatus for advancing a slide mount wherein only a single slide mount is forced through the slide mount opening to the slide track.